The way that lives in the heart: Chinese popular religion and spirit mediums in Penang, Malaysia
By: [Jean DeBernardi].
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Published: 2006
Place of publication: Stanford, Calif
Language: eng
Number of pages: 372
Subjects: Chinese -- Pinang -- Rites and ceremonies; Chinese -- Malaysia -- Rites and ceremonies; Pinang -- Religious life and customs
Description: "The Way That Lives in the Heart is a richly detailed ethnographic analysis of the practice of Chinese religion in the modern, multicultural Southeast Asian city of Penang, Malaysia. The book conveys both an understanding of shared religious practices and orientations and a sense of how individual men and women imagine, represent, and transform popular religious practices within the time and space of their own lives. This work is original in three ways. First, the author investigates Penang Chinese religious practice as a total field of religious practice, suggesting ways in which the religious culture, including spirit-mediumship, has been transformed in the conjuncture with modernity. Second, the book emphasizes the way in which socially marginal spirit mediums use a religious anti-language and unique religious rituals to set themselves apart from mainstream society. Third, the study investigates Penang Chinese religion as the product of a specific history, rather than presenting an overgeneralized overview that claims to represent a single "Chinese religion."--Publisher's website.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.